It's the quickest BMW we've ever run around VIR, but we never got entirely comfortable with this machine.
Judged by the numbers, the's 2:47.5 lap impresses. It is the quickest BMW we've tested at VIR, with the CSL outperforming the 627-hp BMW M5 CS and the track-focused M4 GTS that preceded it.
The 543-hp twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six is a ripper in this lightened M4. Stripped of rear seats and sound-deadening materials, and with more braces than a middle-school dance, this German muscle car weighs 3613 pounds and runs 158.8 mph on the Front Straight—we suspect this engine makes more power than advertised. A 760-hp Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 reached 161.9 mph with a 5.4-pound-per-hp ratio to the M4's 6.6.
Corralling all those ponies requires getting comfortable with the machine. You want a worn-in-Levi's feel, not that of a fresh pair of Wranglers. We never fully settled in, but that's not entirely the car's fault. A bolt punctured a rear tire before we started lapping, and we lost half a day of familiarization.
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